Love will bring you down
by DoReMe19
Summary: Derek's facing the emotional and psychological conflict of having to chose between what he has to do and what he doesn't know if he can do. He must save his friends but, in order to do so, he has to fight against her. But her pain keeps reminding him that she's evil because of her past and somewhere inside he has a hard time forgetting who she was to him.
1. Chapter 1

**"Love will bring you down"**

_Derek's facing the emotional and psychological conflict of having to chose between what he has to do and what he doesn't know if he can do. He must save his friends but, in order to do so, he has to fight against her. But her pain keeps reminding him that she's evil because of her past and somewhere inside he has a hard time forgetting who she was to him._  
_Takes place during "Lunar Ellipse" and picks up right after Lydia's banshee scream induced by Jennifer in order to call Derek back to his loft._

* * *

"This is all about revenge, Jennifer. Don't try and manipulate me into believing you are doing this for a greater good." He's staring at her with anger shining in his eyes while she stands motionless in the middle of his loft.  
Her eyes are dark, but her face shows so many emotions, he's not even sure how to read them all.

"You don't know him like I do, Derek. He's _evil_!" She whispers the last word as if it was dangerous, as if it held some sort of power she can't deal with. As if it didn't fit her as well.  
"So are you!"  
"It's a necessary evil. I have to do this. Deucalion has to be stopped."  
"And who's gonna stop you?"  
He can't say if she's crazy or delusional? If she's trying to fool him again or if she truly believes she's one of the good guys? He doesn't know if the girl he fell for was ever really there or if it was all an act.  
She was faking the whole time. She was pretending to be someone she wasn't just to get him. Jennifer never existed: it was just the Darach.  
But it did feel real. When she kissed him, he felt her heart caress his soul through her lips and the beating of her heart was so honest and stable, so _sincere_.

He was tricked by a pretty face, again. And this one was supernaturally evil.  
He just can't win. If he lets his guards down, she will betray him again.  
"Either you help me or get out of my way, Derek..."

"Not to meddle, but can I point out that you are the one that showed up here?" Lydia mumbles from her position next to Cora and Jennifer's eyes fly right at the girl's face with fire in it. She's loaded with anger and her breathing is so uneven, Derek thinks she could be about to explode.  
Then Jennifer moves slowly in the girls' direction and he panics for a second, finding himself shouting:  
"I'll help you."

She instantly stops, waiting for him to confirm what he's just said: her shoulders are tight and her head is bent a little in his direction. "I'll help you face him. I don't know why it is so important to you that I'm there, but I'll help you as long as you leave everyone else alone."

As the words leave his lips, he focuses on her heart, listening as it slows down peacefully and for a moment, he thinks that it means she feels safe.  
When she turns around and meets his eyes, Derek's throat closes up a little: in there he sees the broken and bubbly woman he held not so long ago. Gone is the need of vengeance, the dark power of hate: she's looking at him with hope and she's silently asking him to protect her. But he can't and he won't. She's a threat to his friends and to the people he loves; she used and manipulated him. Everything was a lie from the start, which means he's gonna be the liar this time around and use her affection for him against her.

When they leave the loft her can hear his sister shouting that he's making a mistake. That he's falling for her tricks again and that he can't trust her, but he gets in the car with Jennifer anyway.  
"Thank you." she breaths out when he starts the engine and drives in the direction of the woods.  
"Don't, Jennifer. Just shut the fuck up."

He's so mad at her for being crazy with revenge, for pretending to care about him, for being evil.  
Why did she have to be evil? He wanted her and, for a while, he was happy with her.  
"You don't know what it's like to be alone and destroyed. I was left with nothing but pain for ten years. You have no idea what it does to your soul."  
"You might have been hurt, but that's not an excuse. You won't get my sympathy. What you are doing is wrong. What you did to me was wrong."

He's getting louder and angrier with every word and he just can't tear his eyes from the road, fearing that she still could have some sort of power over him.  
"You think I like going around with a mutilated face and killing innocent people?" her voice is flat and annoyed, so different from the smiley and sweet one he got used to ever since he's known her. Another proof of her betrayal.  
"Apparently you do, or you wouldn't be doing it."  
"I don't want your friends to die... All I want is to stop Deucalion."  
"No, you want your revenge for what you had to go through."  
"Can you blame me?"

She's challenging him now to have the nerve to state that he's better than her, that he can judge her for being damaged inside, but he knows better. He's been driven by anger for so long and he's been willing to kill before.  
He slashed Peter's throat for something that could be revenge, too and he probably would have killed Kate himself if Peter didn't do it first. He was willing to end both Gerard and Jackson. And Matt. Even Cora and Boyd, when they were a threat to everyone.

When they were a threat to her.

It's all her fault. It's his fault too; had he not protected her from his pack, she would already be dead.

"Why didn't you tell me?"  
He still can't bring himself to look at her, but he just asks this in a mumble because he wishes things had gone differently.  
"Tell you what? That the girl you were sleeping with was in reality a monster that was secretly sacrificing innocent people in order to gather enough power to face a demonic werewolf?"  
"Don't be a smart ass..."  
"What would you have done? Help me? Forgive me? Try and understand me?"

No, he probably would have choked her to death, like he already tried.

"I might be driven by anger, but killing Deucalion is the right thing to do."  
"And you had to drag me into this, because...? Did you seduce me just so I would help you?"  
"I didn't seduce you."  
"You kissed me. You pretended to be a defenseless and caring woman just to get to me."  
"You kissed back. And I wasn't pretending: that was me. It's who I really am: that is who I'd be if they didn't destroy me."  
"Bullshit... Stop playing the victim card: you are anything but a victim, Jennifer."

She's talking with so much passion he just can't help but feel annoyed with her and, as he gets closer to the woods, he wonders if he ever saw who was really hiding behind her sweet facade.  
Derek waits for her to say something back: he's ready for more lies, for her to try and convince him she has reasons, but she stays silent. She just exhales heavily and lets her head fall against the window.

Then a whisper comes: "I had a life and I deserved to live it with my family and my friends. Maybe it is about revenge, but I was left with nothing but the monster they made of me... And I won't let him do that again."

That's when he focuses on her heartbeat again, the same heart that apparently knows how to lie to his wolf senses. It's painfully slow, steady for a while and clearer then her own voice: when she lets out the word _monster _her heart skips a beat and he can't really understand why. She isn't lying, she really is a monster, so why that uncertainty?

He stops the car, moving in his seat so that he's facing her but she's avoiding his eyes; her head hidden from his stare and her body still as stone.

"Why me, Jennifer?"  
It's the first sentence void of anger he's asking her but he didn't mean for it to come out as desperate as it did.  
"You think you were part of my plan?"  
"Wasn't I?"  
"No..." her answer is fast and a little irritated and, again, her heart proves she's not lying. But he doesn't trust her heart. Not anymore.

"How do you do that?"  
"What?"  
"How do you lie without your heart giving it away?"

She chuckles without really answering, which irritates him to the point he just opens the door, getting out of the car and slamming it violently before he starts walking into the woods: she'll follow, he knows. They are there because of her, there's no need to insist for her to join him.  
Soon her steps are behind him, reminding him that she's on a mission: to kill. Either just Deucalion or his friends' parents.

She's a killer. A monster. She's not the girl he made love to. She's nothing.

"Did you even try to see it my way?" she's asking as she joins him, her voice cold again and he has to resist the urge to close his hands around her throat.  
"Your way? You took the lives of twelve people just because you were pissed beyond sanity. There's no different way to see it."

Jennifer is now a couple of steps ahead when out of the blue she stops dead in her tracks, turns around, and does something that scares the shit out of him.  
She mutates into her Darach form and lifts a hand to the back of his head, pushing her fingers deep against his flesh. And then, just like that, a flow of images and memories that don't belong to Derek invades his brain.

It's so fast he can barely keep up, so blurry yet heavy that he feels the air leaving his lungs, too overwhelmed to stand it and too confused to understand what he's actually seeing.  
But one thing is clear: the power of the pain that stays stable the entire time, strong enough to have him beg for her to stop and let him go.  
And she does, without hesitation.

She slides her fingers on his skin, caressing his neck for a moment, before she realize that it could be a dangerous move: she takes a step back, waiting silently.  
Gone is her Darach face but, as he pants to get his breath back, he can't meet her eyes: she's hiding her face behind a curtains of dark curls and he's surprisingly grateful for that.

He has no idea what she just showed him, but whatever that was, it hurt like hell.  
"What... what was that?" he mumbles still out of air.

She doesn't answer, though. She just turns on her heels and walks further into the woods, leaving him there to deal with the aftermath of her emotions.

When he catches up with her, anger is radiating from her flash all over again: a reminder of her true evil nature. He needs to stay focused and keep in mind that he's trying to protect his friends from her.  
And from Deucalion.

Scott needs him: Scott and the rest of the pack are his priority, meaning he has to ban the image of Jennifer Blake from his heart and concentrate on the Darach walking next to him.  
She has to die, no questions asked. No matter what, his goal is to make sure both her and Deucalion die: that's what should happen to the bad guys.

But she meets his gaze, staring at him as if she can read his mind and he doesn't know if he can be the one to kill her.  
"What's it like, Derek?"  
He's worried she's asking how it feels to be ready to kill someone he cared about, but he's not sure and he doesn't want to blow his cover, so he simply frowns at her.  
"What's it like to be saved from yourself? To be loved? To be cared for?" her voice is trembling a little and he swears he can spot tears in her eyes, but it's a flash before she avoids his glance once again.

"How would I know?"

He's such a bastard: he's lying. He does know: he's a different man because of his friends, going from lonely and angry to a better version of himself. And they care about him, he knows that: he has his sister back and his pack, loving him and helping him always.

As he stares back at her, he can feel the memory of her pain coming back. Whatever she showed him, one thing he knows: she was scared, hurt, lonely, desperate and angry. Like he was when he lost his family.  
He can't get past how she's dealing with everything, but he can acknowledge that her rage comes from the pain they inflicted on her. She fell into the darkness of her broken mind and soul.  
She's right, they did this to her.  
Still, knowing that is just not enough for him, he can't forgive her. He can't understand her. But then she breaths out something that shakes his heart a little:

"I wish you could have saved me, too."  
"I thought I did: didn't you make it out alive because of me killing my girlfriend?"  
"That's not what I meant..."

He knows exactly what she meant yet he doesn't want to feel sorry for her: she doesn't deserve it.  
He wants to tell her, but then her phone goes off and soon she's watching a video of Scott letting her know where he and Deucalion are.

Derek watches as she changes her path, marching in the direction of the old distillery he knows too well and, without a word, he follows: it's time for the final battle. She doesn't know, but no matter what, she will be dead soon.

Dead. Gone. No chance for salvation; no mercy for the lost and crazy emissary. No more confrontation.  
She's putting her faith in him, sure he will help her: what she doesn't know is that he's planning to betray her. He has to, she will kill his friends if he doesn't.

She's dangerous and out of control and he can't save her. Not now. There's nothing he can or wants to do for her soul.  
She's right in front of him, ready to face the man that calls himself the demon wolf, determined to get her revenge; he keeps repeating in his head that revenge is all she's after, that it' her trigger.

When she pauses for a minute, he bumps into her back and takes in her silhouette: tense and trembling, strong but still somehow fragile. Jennifer is in there somewhere, lost in all the fury that grew for ten years and he wishes he could reach out and touch her, separating her from the Darach.  
She inhales slowly, clenching her fists as she murmurs some ancient pray he can't understand; then she turns in his direction, making all his security crumble.

Her big blue orbs show fear mixed with gratitude and trust: she's showing she feels safe because he's there. Her face sweet and delicate, insecure yet comforted, making him feel like crap.

_"I can't save you"_ he wants to say. _"I'm sorry, but I can't save you. I wish I could hide you from the mess you made, but I can't."_

And as she walks towards her personal _vendetta_, Derek can't help but hold one last time onto the memory of the woman he was falling for: he grabs her wrist suddenly, turning her around again before he gently touches the side of her neck. His eyes locked with hers, which now appear confused and taken aback.

Then, without a word, he softly brushes their lips together: it lasts only a second, it's something so rapid and light he's not sure himself if he actually kissed her, but it's all he wanted.

One last moment with Jennifer before he completely replaced her with the Darach: it's something more, 'tough. It's his way to say he's sorry Jennifer has to die. It's a plea to who she was supposed to be; he's asking her to understand. Maybe it's just the goodbye he was never able to have.  
Or worse, it's his chance to play her, making her belief that he's on her side even more strong, when in reality he's her enemy.

Just like she's been his all along.

Then he meets her eyes, finding the fire back in there, as if she just read his true intentions through the kiss.

"Let's go."

As they enter the old distillery side by side, Scott and Deucalion right in front of them, he knows his time is up and he has to show whose side he is on.  
"Should we show them why you had to take the lives of nine innocent people, Jennifer? Or is it twelve, now?" growls Deucalion as he shifts into his terrifying version of a wolf, taking a step in their direction.

"Actually, it's fifteen, if you include the rest of your pack..." Jennifer rumbles back, as an evil grin appears on her lips.  
Her body ready for the fight, her senses all on her enemy.

Deucalion doesn't even filch as she mentions she had killed the other Alphas, but actually smiles in the most creepy way showing how emotionless he really is.

"That's why you can't beat me: you still hold onto the pain of losing those you loved. Love is a weakness, Jennifer. Love will bring you down..." as the powerful Alpha speaks the last line, his face moves for a second in Derek's direction, making his blood cold in his veins.

But she doesn't understand. She doesn't see Derek's eyes close briefly with guilt. She doesn't read the conflict on his face. Nor does she feel his heart beat pick up with fear.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I'm gonna apologize first, because this chapter is unbetaed and, sadly, I'm still Italian... Which means the chapter will probably have mistakes and some non-sense: again, I'm extremely sorry. Hopefully that won't make it impossible to read it.  
On another note, I think this story will turn out to be a 3 parter, but it could be more.  
Thanks for reading!_

**_Will you take revenge over me?_**

**_X-x-X_**

Nothing goes as he planned: even if Jennifer gathered lots of power, the fact that she didn't complete the ritual and killed the three guardians means that she is not strong enough.  
Derek is not an Alpha anymore and he can't actually do much: every now and then he launches himself at the Demonic wolf, distracting him from tearing Jennifer apart, but it's useless: she's losing her battle.

Blood is spilling out of her mouth, running along her jaw and neck and she's panting, desperate for air and life. The same life that he once gave her back.  
As Deucalion grabs Jennifer's curls and drags her on the concrete, Derek stumblers to get back on his feet: she doesn't even make a sound when the Alpha moves her right in front of Scott, demanding the he ends her.

Derek feels a pang of pain deep in chest when he sees the terror raising on her features at the realization that this could be it.  
But Scott is not like him: Scott would never kill someone, no matter what. That is exactly what makes Scott a better Alpha then him and Deucalion's tricks won't be enough to turn his friend into a murderer.  
With an evil grin plastered on his lips, the Alpha levels with Jennifer's face and slapping her once again:

"Did you really think you could beat me? I always get what I want. Always."  
She's talking now and, as blood floods out of her lips, she cleans it with the back of her hand. The ice in her voice scares him:

"No, you won't. I'll kill you even if I have to die in order to do that."  
"Let my friends go, Jennifer. Let them go and I won't let him kill you." Scott's words are smooth but firm, even if they prove just how naive he can be.

Thinking that there's a way for Jennifer to make it out alive is crazy and, as Deucalion launches her across the room, he knows this is his time to let her down: her eyes are looking for him, silently praying for him to help her, but he drags himself up from the floor and moves until he's standing next to Scott.  
He meets her desperate gaze, hears her voice mumble his name once, but he doesn't move.

And as understanding dawns on her face, he dies a little inside.

"What are you doing?" Scott is looking at him, confused and horrified as he realizes Derek is letting Deucalion march in direction without doing nothing. "He's gonna killer her."  
"I know…" he breaths back while he tries to hate her as much as he should.

She's there, begging for him to save her in the only way he still can, and he's refusing to.  
"Are you out of your mind?"  
"Scott, it's either her or your mom and the others' parents… There's nothing we can do."  
"What is wrong with you? You can't just stand there and watch as he ends her."

Scott's right, he can't. But he will anyway: that is how it was supposed to go.

She won't go down without a fight, though: she's gathering her all strength, praying in the same language he heard her talk before, loading her next hit against Deucalion.  
The Alpha stops just a couple of meters from her, smiling evilly and mocking her desperate attempt to threaten him.

"Tell me, Jennifer: how has it been down there, in the cold of the ground for ten years, begging the Gods to heal your lost beauty and remembering the screams of your friends while they were torn apart?" Derek watches her stone face crumbles and her eyes go from dark to hurt in a second.

"Did you ever think it was all your fault? An emissary, a guidance that didn't see it coming. Or did you? Did you dream about what was in for your pack but were too stupid or scared to talk about it?" her hands fall flat against her sides and her gaze moves to the ground when a tear slips along her cheek.  
"Ah… you did, didn't you? You knew Kali was going to massacre you all but you didn't think she could betray you like that. She loved you, after all, uh?" he's torturing her with the words before he will destroy her body too.

"See, it's yourself you should be mad at. Love had already let you down in the past: how did you not learn from your mistakes?"

She trusted someone she loved before: no matter what the odds told her, she believed that love would save her and her friends. And that same love is what destroyed her.

Yet she trusted him: she put her faith in him, believing that what happened between them would have been enough for him to care; enough to have mercy; enough to prove her that you can love without being destroyed.

That is when he finally really understands what broke her: it wasn't just the physical pain or the loneliness. It was the profound heartbreak of being tore apart by someone she had faith in. Of putting your heart in the hands of someone that you love, just to watch them walk all over it as if you never meant anything.

Love is what broke her.

Love is what is breaking her all over again. This time for good. He is what is breaking her.  
She's avoiding his eyes because now she knows he was never on her side: it was them against her from the start and he was basically something that made her weaker. Because she thought on some level he had her back, when in reality he was just working in the dark.

Just like she did with him. They were doomed from day one: she used him and lied to him.  
Today he did the same thing, but somehow, he doesn't feel like they are even: she broke his heart but he is letting someone kill her. It's not exactly the same.

Deucalion is walking in her direction again now, ready to end it all: she's back on her feet and her face looks colder then ever.

It's like after his betrayal there's no humanity left in her; no Jennifer to save and no soul to drag back from the dark.

"Say goodbye to your sacred oak and to your boy, Jennifer. It's time to end what Kali once started."

Scott takes a step towards them, probably looking for a way to stop the Alpha but unable to find one and, as the light grows brighter, Derek feels something change inside his chest: one look at Jennifer's face and he knows what's happening.

The Eclipse has started and this is her only chance to make it out alive.

"You talk too much..." she smirks coldly, watching Deucalion loose his scary wolf form and turn back to a powerless and blind man.

It's a blur: she moves so fast Derek can't even see as she punches the Alpha straight in the face and sends him flying across the room right at Derek's feet.

Then, with no emotion but hate left in her body, she marches towards them: her eyes fixed on her prey.

This is not what he planned: she was supposed to be dead before the Eclipse even started and his friends safe from her.  
He can't stop her, now: not with the Eclipse and not now that she knows he was never going to help her.

"Jennifer, wait!"  
Scott's voice comes out desperate and, for a second, she moves her eyes on the boy next to him.  
"You don't have to do this: you don't have to kill anyone else. We know now: we know what he did to you. You are not left alone with your pain anymore." his friend sounds sincere as he watches her with compassion and try to reach out for the heart that's hidden under the thirst of revenge.  
"I'm sorry nobody was there for you and you got your future stolen, but please, stop. We can help you..."

Derek frowns at Scott's words, unable to see how they can do that: how do you help someone who has nothing left but rage and darkness?

"You don't want to help me. You just want me to let your friends go..." she's not even trying to manipulate them anymore. She's empty and it's like nothing matters to her anymore: she just wants Deucalion dead. She's on a mission to inflict pain to however gets in her way.

"Yes, yes I do. I'm begging you to let the people I love live... To be different from them. How can we believe in your cause when you give us nothing to prove this is not just all about revenge?"  
"It is about revenge: if I don't do this, nobody will. No one will be here to make him pay for what he did to me and to all those he killed. I have to do this... It's my job!"

As Scott tries to reason with her 'tough, Deucalion moves slowly behind Derek and, as he gets to his feet, he locks one arm around Derek's neck, ready to snap it.

The Alpha holds him hard, choking him a little and Derek tries to pray his hands away from his body but, with the eclipse taking away all his wolf strength and the previous battle weakening him, every attempt to fight back is useless.

Jennifer's gaze flies straight from Scott to Deucalion, before it softly lands on Derek: her features a mix of shock and anger.

"What's gonna be, Jennifer? Revenge or love?"

The minutes are passing fast and her fifteen minutes to kill a powerless Deucalion are fading away as she struggles with her choice: their eyes meet for longer then Derek can stand and, closing them, he 's suddenly aware of what she will chose.

Revenge. It's been all she has known for ten years: it's been feeding her heart for longer then anything else and there is no love there to fight for.

"A snap, Jennifer. That's all it's gonna take. I don't need my eyes to that and with the eclipse he's not going to heal from anything..." Deucalion chuckles darkly "But he couldn't heal from a broken neck anyway."

Her silent is constant, she's speaking with her eyes and they are so full of hate yet so empty, Derek is sure she will kill him first just to get him out of her way.

"Do you want him dead? I can give you that: after all he was standing there watching you fight your druid war on your own..."

She takes one step. Then another one: her body tense but her orbs are turning white, signaling that she's gathering her powers once again.  
Derek swallows hard when energy fills her body, the air around her turning electric and her curls float around her, showing how strong she really is.

"Can you remember your first kiss? Did he hold you like you meant something? Did he whisper sweet words in your ear when you gave yourself to him?"

Derek feels his stomach contract with emotions as flashes of their nights together come to life in his mind: the first time her lips touched his he was so scared he trembled under he skin and drew back for a second. And she stood there with her eyes closed, breathing hard and giving him the chance to push her away.

He's remembering little moments of them, suddenly aware of the weight of his betrayal and what it is making to him, but she looks untouched.  
"Derek, did you ever breathed on her lips how beautiful she was?"

He did. He kissed her skin and caressed her neck, savoring her like she tasted of life, and he was mesmerized by her beauty.  
"Did you feel wanted, Jennifer? Did you think he was going to love your heart instead of your body?"

At that she stops: pain invades her features when she takes in what Deucalion's words mean.  
There was nothing for him to love once he saw her true form: what they shared before was never enough for him to want her. For him to save her.

He watches as what she's thinking passes on her face and the air leaves his lungs when he realizes he's the reason for the sudden pain flowing through her veins.  
Then she softly asks him:  
"Do you hate me?"  
"I want to..." he chokes out, Deucalion's grip on his neck tighter.  
"Can you forgive me?"

He wants to lie and say that he can, but she's doing everything wrong; she's hurting the people he loves and he doesn't want to lie anymore.  
"No. I don't think can't."

"Will you remember me the way you knew me before?"  
"That's all I want to remember of you. The bright side of you."

It's a bittersweet confession: it's all he can give her now and he wants his last promise to be real. He doesn't know how to stop her anymore, but he needs to redeem himself somehow: he doesn't want to be like Kali. He doesn't want to be another love that broke her.

"His feelings are just not strong enough, Jennifer."  
Why is Deucalion doing this? Turning her against Derek is not going to save him from her revenge: if anything, it's just going to get them both killed.

But then Derek realizes that the Alpha is not really using him against her: he's tricking her into hating Derek enough to hurt him, so that Scott will be forced to kill her in order to save his friend.

And there his blood freezes, because the eclipse is almost over and Deucalion's plan could actually work: if her anger is strong enough, Scott will be his only hope.

There's one heavy tear that is running painfully slow along her cheek and it looks like she's not aware of the time that is passing faster and faster.  
"Do you really think your tragedy is enough for him to forgive you? You were alone for ten years and you are still alone: he cares about his pack, not about you."

As the last sentence leaves Deucalion's lips, Derek can see her eyes turn white again and he has no doubts that she's gonna hit them hard unless Scott steps in, and he is sure that he will.  
"The sweet emissary will never learn that love is not enough..."

She's breathing hard, walking towards them again: no emotion in display on her face.

"He's wrong..." Scott whispers from his left "Even if it's short lived, you want to fight for it. Love is always enough."

"I know." she whispers back, before everything changes.  
The storm is coming to an halt, the wind not howling anymore and the electricity in the air around her gets calmer: it's not stopping, but something is keeping it in check.

"Let him go." she growls at the Alpha.  
"No. You either surrender or I will kill him. Or you can kill him."  
When she turns to Scott, her eyes are back to those sweet and innocent orbs her remembers the first night he saw her, yet Derek doesn't know if she's acting again.

"I can't stop the storm, it's not up to me, but it is happening because of my connection to the telluric currents: all I can do is slow it down."  
"Wh-what?" the teen's voice trembles a little when he realizes what she is trying to tell him but she doesn't explain any further; she just looks at Deucalion and, with pure hate and regret running in her blood, she declares:

"You win. Now let him go."  
"Not until your powers are gone. Let go of your stupid magic and I will give you your Romeo back."

Derek stands still, completely in shock and searching for her gaze: she avoids every bit of him, focusing her attention on the Alpha that is still chocking him and then, without any hesitation, she breaths out heavily. Something they can't see happens, it's as if energy is actually leaving her body and that powerful flow that was running through her is now reduced to minimum.

"Good, girl. See, Derek? She did care about you enough for the both of you..." Deucalion chuckles throwing him on the floor, raising his hands up in the air as the Eclipse ends and he regains his Demonic form.

She takes a couple of steps back, aware that her only chance to kill him without completing her ritual is now gone, yet she is still keeping the storm in control and that is now visibly weakening her.  
Scott helps Derek get back on his feet and they both stand like idiots right where they are: it's evil against evil and, again, they don't know what to do.

"You know, Derek? You underestimated her ability to love: you focused on her horrible actions, but never saw the heart and the pain behind that. Did he, Jennifer?"

But he does: he now knows how to read all those memories she showed him and he feels everything she's feeling now, too, as if the connection was still there.  
She's terrified, lost and alone all over again: gone is her need of vengeance and there is no hope left in her soul.

He can hear as her heart begs for forgiveness and suddenly he finds himself whispering to Scott:  
"Stop him."  
"What?" the boy looks at him confused before he moves his gaze to Deucalion's back.  
"I can't stop him, but you can. This is it, Scott. This is your chance to became a True Alpha."  
"I don't know how!"  
"It doesn't matter, it will happen if you want it. He knows you are a threat. Stop him..."  
"Are you asking me to save her?"

Derek swallows tentatively, looking at her and feeling his heart sunk in his chest.  
He can save her soul: he knows he can reach for her and push the darkness away.  
She is not evil, she is just broken and, even he can't forget what she did, he knows he can drag her back from the hole she's been locked in for ten yeas. He has to.

"Yes. I can't. But I need you to."  
"Are you sure?"  
"I know how it is to feel lost and angry, Scott. I felt it for years and, if it weren't for you guys, I'd still be. I need to do that for her: I can be her anchor."  
"Can you do that? Can you bring her humanity back?"  
"Yes, I think I can..."  
"Are you gonna trick her again?"  
"No, I'm gonna show her I care."  
"Do you really?"  
"I wish I didn't anymore. But if she is connected to that tree, maybe she can use that connection to stop Deucalion. We can do it, Scott. We can save them all, I just need to get to her."

That's all Scott needs to know: everything that happens next changes the dynamics of their lives, because soon Scott's eyes are turning bright red and a new strength is driving him as he moves incredibly fast and puts himself between Jennifer and Deucalion.

She's visibly weak – probably because of her control over the storm – and she has a hard time standing, but when she sees Scott in front of her, her heart fills with a spark of hope.  
Derek is right behind her before she even has time to register: his arm curls around her waist to help and support her when her body loses the will to keep her up.

"Can you stop him without killing him?" he asks not looking at her, but his hold on her tightens a little.  
"I... I have to kill him."  
"No, you don't. I know you think it's over, but it's not. I didn't understand the emotions you showed me before, but I know now."  
"Know what?"  
"That you need me. You said you wished I could have saved you too. I knew what you meant, and I'm ready to do it now..."

Her breath trembles and her heart beats in a way that tells him she doesn't believe him, so he adds softly:  
"I thought there was nothing to save. I believed you were just the Darach, that the girl I got to know was never there..."  
"You were wrong."  
"I know that now. I want to save that girl. I'm here to save you." he says finding her eyes. They are so tired and conflicted: as if she wants to give up but, at the same time, he's keeping her here.

"Let go of you revenge, Jen. It's not worth it: let go of your anger."  
"It's all I have known for ten years. It's all I have left. I lost you too."  
"Then get me back. Let go of your fucking hate and hold onto me!"

Scott is fretting: Derek is taking too much time and he doesn't know how to stop Deucalion from killing them all.  
"Do you really think that just because the color of your eyes changed, you can fight me now?"  
"I can try..."  
The boy flashes his eyes at the demon wolf, showing him what he mostly feared, yet still an evil grin forms on his lips:  
"You can't kill me. True Alphas don't steal power..."

"Jennifer, is there another way to stop him?" Derek breaths in her ear trying to keep their conversation hidden from the other wolves.  
"I can give his power to the Nematon."  
"What do you need?"  
"To touch him."

Scott titles his head in Derek's direction for a second, driving Deucalion's attention back on Jennifer: Derek nods just once and Scott feels the panic leaving his muscles.  
Gathering the bullets Deaton gave him earlier, he throws them right in front of his enemy and, as sparks erupt from the collision with the ground, he covers his eyes to protect himself.

It only takes them a few seconds to round Deucalion: Scott is standing behind him, ready to attack while Derek drags Jennifer next to him.

He can read in her body when she hesitates and ponder to kill the man responsible of her pain, but he doesn't let her linger on that feeling:  
"Killing him won't erase your hurt and it won't change what you went through. Do the right thing..." he's looking directly in her eyes and he's trying to pour his heart out through his gaze. "Please..."

It's a beg for her to show him he can actually save her from herself; to let him know Jennifer is fighting against the Darach and that she can win.

Swallowing hard she touches Deucalion's chest and, praying once again to her sacred oak, she works her magic: Derek feels the energy passing through her muscles first, turning her body to stone as it flows from Deucalion to her cells before it leaves her flash, sent to the wood of a cut down tree as the ultimate sacrifice.

Deucalion is screaming in pain and they can hear as she pants, overwhelmed by the force of what she is doing: the storm stops suddenly, leaving them all in the heavy and thick silence of the aftermath.

"Is it over?" the question comes from a stunned Scott, now back to his normal appearance, but his new red eyes shining; Deucalion still as he slowly opens his eyes.  
Jennifer simply nods before she pushes herself away from Derek, the distance suddenly needed and the memory of her sins back over them.

He follows her figure while she tries to get back on her feet: he watches her and he can't help but wonder if he's looking at Jennifer or at the Darach.  
When Scott's phone rings, everyone turns in his direction, listening as Stiles asks them to go there and get them out of the cellar Jennifer trapped them in.

She's standing still at the distillery's entrance, looking at the moon as if it holds some sort of resolution. As if it could wash away her crimes.  
Scott looks at Derek, unsure about what he should do, before the man says:

"I'll deal with her..." his orbs locked on Jennifer's back.  
"What are you gonna do to her?"  
"I don't know." Derek answers truthfully "What about Deucalion?"  
"I'll take care of him."  
"I'll see you at the loft."


End file.
